White Flag
by Venus5
Summary: I will go down with this ship, and I won't put my hands up and surrender. There will be no white flag above my door, I'm in love, always will be...' Based on the song by Dido. RHr


White Flag  
  
By Venus5  
  
A/N: This is a one-shot fic, based on the song White Flag by Dido (I love that song!!!). It's basically a sort of defence of the R/Hr ship. . . you have to read it to know what I mean. Enjoy! (Hopefully . . .)  
  
I stand in the church, watching you. You look so beautiful, standing there in your dress. You always were, to me. You weren't beautiful in terms of make-up, clothes, all those things that girls like. You were beautiful in your own way.  
  
I see the way you look at him, the way you smile at him. I don't blame you. After all, he's The Boy Who Lived. And me? I'm just Ron Weasley, a complete anonymity, who has red hair, freckles and little money. I should have known it would have never worked. Why should it? You're out of my league.  
  
I've always tried not to be jealous of Harry. I haven't always succeeded. Now, I can almost feel myself go green with envy. Why didn't it work? We could have tried again. I'm glad that we're still friends, but for me, it's not enough. It sounds incredibly selfish, I know, but I can't help it.  
  
We've nearly reached the end of the sermon. I listen as you exchange your wedding vows, and then kiss. It should be me you're kissing, not him. Everyone else is smiling, cheering, and throwing confetti. I arrange my face into a smile too, although inside I am breaking. Ginny comes over to me.  
  
"Are you alright?"  
  
"I suppose. Yes. No. I don't know."  
  
She smiles and pats my arm sympathetically. She never asked me outright about it and I never told her, but somehow she knows. I guess it's because of her crush on Harry, but she says that she's over it now. Well, she'll have to be. I'll have to get over it too. Trouble is, I'm finding it a lot harder than she did. I have to let go. I can't.  
  
We reach the reception. I sit with Harry and Hermione at the table. That's how it always goes, isn't it? The hero gets the girl. Still, Harry's not like any other hero. He's also my best friend. And if I'm any kind of friend to him, then he deserves some happiness after all he's been through.  
  
We eat, and then everyone looks at Harry. It's time for his speech. He stands up. He never liked being the centre of attention, but now, he is beaming around at the room. He clears his throat, and begins.  
  
"First, I'd like to thank you all for coming today, I really appreciate it."  
  
People nod and smile. He continues.  
  
"I'd also like to say thank you to Hermione, who has been rather stressed out lately at preparing and planning the wedding. You've done a great job."  
  
People laugh, but this time I smile too. I knew what he meant, being their best friend and everything, and believe me, when Hermione's annoyed, she knows how to make sure you're aware of that! After all, I'd on the receiving end or her temper a fair few times when we were at school.  
  
"I married this girl," he says, "because I love her more than anything else in the world - well, maybe with the exception of Quidditch."  
  
More laughter.  
  
"No, seriously now . . . she is, to me, the most beautiful girl in the world. There's no other way of explaining it."  
  
He carries on in this tone for a while, until I hear my name. I realise everyone is looking at me.  
  
". . . Last of all, I'd like to say thanks to Ron. You've been a great mate." He grins at me. I grin back. He sits back down and I realise that it's time for me to make my speech. I stand up.  
  
"Twelve years ago, I was on my first train ride to Hogwarts. All the compartments were full, except for one, which had one boy sitting in it. Little did I know then that that boy would become my best friend in the world. . . Anyway, we were about an hour in to the journey, when a girl came in. I was trying to turn my rat yellow, and I had just raised my wand when she burst in, and then insisted that I showed her what I was about to do. The spell failed."  
  
Laughter. Hermione was looking at me, laughing as well. I could tell that she remembered that incident just as clearly as I could.  
  
"Anyhow, shortly after she left Harry and I in peace, along with the impression that she was a know-it-all and a goody-two-shoes. When we became her friend, we discovered that we weren't far from wrong!"  
  
Everyone is chuckling. Hermione is trying to glare at me but I can tell that she is also amused.  
  
"Those two became the best friends I ever had. I wish you two the best of luck, " and I sat down.  
  
Later on, Hermione approached me. Around us people were dancing. She took my hand and led me to the dance floor. "What?" I asked. "A girl's allowed to dance with her friend, isn't she?" she replied. We fell silent. I listen to the word's of the music.  
  
'I know you think that I shouldn't still love you;  
  
I'll tell you that.  
  
But if I didn't say it, well I'd still have felt it  
  
where's the sense in that?  
  
I promise I'm not trying to make your life harder  
  
Or return to where we were  
  
Well I will go down with this ship  
  
And I won't put my hands up and surrender  
  
There will be no white flag above my door  
  
I'm in love and always will be. . . "  
  
She looks up at me.  
  
"You know, Ron, you were always the one I liked best. . . even if I did yell at you a lot."  
  
"What?"  
  
She ignores me.  
  
"I never told you this, but I'm sorry if I gave you a hard time."  
  
"Why are you telling me this now? Why not before?"  
  
"Because I was too afraid to speak out."  
  
She sighs. She senses my unease.  
  
"I did love you Ron, when we were going out. Really I did. But some things just . . . aren't meant to be. I love Harry now. I wish you could be happy for us."  
  
She falls silent and lets go. We walk off in separate directions.  
  
I think about what she has said, and realise. I *am* happy for them. Harry deserves some happiness in his life. And he's a good guy, he wouldn't hurt Hermione. I know he loves her, and she loves him too. And that should be good enough for anyone, shouldn't it?  
  
I know that I still love her. But I can't do anything, can I? She's married now, and she is happy. Who am I to take that away from her? I guess most guys would run off with her, wreck their marriage. But I'm not that sort of guy. I love her too much to do that to her. And Harry's been a great friend. . . I couldn't do that to him, either.  
  
I guess the morale of the story is: if you really love someone, sometimes you have to let them go. I love her so much that I would rather her be happy. And if she is happy, even if it is with someone else, I am happy too.  
  
I look at her talking to Harry, and she catches my eye. I keep my eye contact with her, as I listen to the rest of the song.  
  
'And when we meet  
  
Which I'm sure we will  
  
All that was then  
  
Will be there still  
  
I'll let it pass  
  
And hold my tongue  
  
And you will think  
  
That I've moved on....  
  
I will go down with this ship  
  
And I won't put my hands up and surrender  
  
There will be no white flag above my door  
  
I'm in love and always will be. . .'  
  
A/N: So there you have it. I guess what I'm, trying to say is, in the highly unlikely even that Harry ends up with Hermione, she still belongs with Ron, because they just go together. . . there's no words for it, so I hope that you understand what I mean. Please review! 


End file.
